Midnight Celebrations
by phyfrea
Summary: "Mom Chad's birthday is tomorrow and I haven't got him a present yet"/"I want to celebrate his birthday at 12 midnight and I want it to be a surprise"/She was going to need a vantage hiding spot from where she could see Chad/"That was the best b'day ever"


**Disclaimer: I do not own Sonny with a Chance.**

**5.00 PM**

Sonny pulled up her hair, held it to her scalp and fastened it with a clip. She then walked the whole length of the hall, clenching and unclenching her hands repetitively.

"_Sonny_, you're blocking my view", said her mother (sitting in front of the television), sounding a little annoyed.

Sonny ignored her and walked back to the wall, absorbed in her thoughts. She removed the clip and let her hair flow over her shoulders; it was starting to get a little uncomfortable. She chucked the clip at the sofa. It narrowly missed her mother's lap.

"Sonny, why are you _so_ restless today?", her mother asked, muting _Mackenzie Falls _to pay attention to her daughter.

"Mom Chad's birthday is _tomorrow_ and I haven't got him a present _yet_", she said, desperation clear in her voice.

"Did you forget about it or something? I mean, you usually never leave gift-shopping this late"

Sonny did not reply. Instead, she went to her room, pulled a paper from her soft-board and rushed back to the living room.

Waving it at her mother, she said, "See, this is a countdown chart for his birthday. So, _no_, I did not forget it…I just don't know what to get him, that's all"

"How about cake or clothes or…cologne or…something electronic? Or you could give him a limited edition _PaceIt_ watch"

"Mom, you _really_ think I haven't thought of all that? See, those are the gifts that anyone can give, I want to give him something very special, I want to make this birthday memorable for him"

Connie smiled at her daughter warmly.

"I'm sure you'll find a way, honey. Now stop pacing so anxiously and sit watch _Mack Falls _with me"

Sonny resignedly flopped on the couch next to her mother.

**5:37 PM**

Sonny suddenly sat up straight.

"Mom! I know what I'm going to do"

Until then, the atmosphere in the room had been a lazy, relaxed one. Sonny and Connie had been slouching on the couch, passively taking in the _Mackenzie Falls_ drama.

Now Sonny's legendary energy level was back. Her eyes were gleaming with enthusiasm.

"Mom, help me bake a cake, please"

"_Cake_ Sonny? You're so enthusiastic about baking him a _cake_?"

Sonny nodded.

"But I thought you wanted to do something unusual, something more…_special_"

"Mom, cake is only a small part of the plan. I'll fill you in on the rest of it as we bake. We have to hurry mom. Please. I have to get a lot done before tonight"

As Sonny mulled over the plan in her head, a smile broke out on her face on imagining her boyfriend's reaction to her 'gifts'. She was _so_ looking forward to seeing him soon.

**8:10 PM**

Sonny parked her car a few blocks away from the Cooper mansion. She was going to have to draw as little attention as possible. She was going to walk to Chad's house.

A heavy bag hung on her arm.

Shielding her hair from the breeze, Sonny walked towards her destination.

David, the watchman, greeted her, "Hello, Miss Munroe. You haven't brought your car today?"

His hand reached for the bell.

"David, don't ring the bell. I kinda don't want Chad to know that I am here. I'll go in by myself. Just this once, please?"

David obliged. He did not inform the residents of the mansion of Sonny's arrival. After all, she was a welcomed, much-liked guest of the Coopers. There could be no harm in letting her in without informing them.

Sonny cautiously opened the front door. Thankfully, no one was there in the living room. She made a beeline straight to the kitchen.

"Mrs. Cooper"

The blonde-haired woman standing at the counter (cooking), turned around and smiled.

"Hello Sonny dear. What brings you here at this time? You want me to fetch Chad?"

"No, Mrs. Cooper. I actually don't want him to know that I am here"

Amanda Cooper looked at Sonny questioningly.

"I want to celebrate his birthday at 12 midnight and I want it to be a surprise", Sonny said.

"That's so sweet Sonny"

Sonny smiled a little embarrassedly.

"My pleasure, Mrs. Cooper"

"Okay Sonny. I'm going to sleep. It's been a very hectic day. Do anything you want, okay? There's food in the fridge in case you're hungry. Goodnight"

"Goodnight"

As Amanda Cooper exited the kitchen, Sonny put her bag on the counter, it had been pretty heavy. She pondered over what she was going to do until midnight. She had to act soon, Chad could walk in any moment. After all, it _was_ his house.

Then an idea began forming in her mind; she smiled. Maybe she could watch Chad and his antics while remaining unseen herself. She'd always wondered what Chad was like when there was nobody to see him.

But how was she going to manage it? Hmm…

She tiptoed towards Chad's room. The door was closed. Sonny let out a breath of relief. Then she heard what sounded like footsteps shuffling towards the door. Impulsively, she slipped into the adjacent room. She was lucky that there was a room so close to where she had been standing because Chad chose that moment to open his door and go to the bathroom opposite his door. She let out another sigh of relief. This whole being sneaky deal was not going to be as easy as she'd thought.

She then heard the sound of shower being opened. Chad had gone to take a shower? Good. Because that gave her more time to think. She glanced at the closed bathroom door once and deciding that it was safe to do so, noiselessly entered Chad's room. She was going to need a vantage hiding spot from where she could see Chad and yet remain unnoticed by him.

She didn't have a lot of choice, seeing as the room was almost bare of furniture except for a bed, a dressing table, a chair and a cupboard (he had a huge closet, so he didn't need rows of cupboards). Then, a huge cardboard cutout of him that lay behind the bed caught her eye. She went and stood behind it to see if it made a good hiding place. Then she removed her heels. Her real height would hide her better. Before she could reconsider her decision, the door opened and Chad came in. His shower was over so soon?

Apparently it was. His hair was wet and he was wearing comfortable cotton clothes. A towel hung over one of his shoulder. She was grateful that he had changed his clothes in the bathroom itself. It spared her a lot of awkwardness.

Seemingly, she was well covered. Because, Chad did not even glance in her direction when he walked towards his bed. He sat on the bed and picked his laptop. He switched it on and began humming.

His humming died as he turned his attention towards the now-fully-booted computer. He opened his browser. Sonny was not surprised to see her blog open on one of the tabs. He _was_ her boyfriend after all.

She moved a few inches to the left to get a better view of Chad's computer. He was now on a cars' page. Again, it was not surprising. She knew of his love for automobiles. Then he switched back to her blog tab. Sonny could see him reading it, his lips were moving silently. She had written about a date with Chad, without actually alluding to either Chad or the date (they hadn't gone public yet). She had only written about how much fun she'd had. But Chad knew what it was really about. His smile was growing wider with each line he read. Now _this_ reaction took her by surprise. She really hadn't expected such a warm reaction from him (not that she'd expected a bad one). She suddenly felt a rush of affection for the boy. But she didn't act on it. She would save it all for midnight.

After reading her post, he keyed in another URL. Sonny couldn't make out what he was typing. Then the page he'd requested loaded. Sonny almost toppled over in laughter on catching sight of it. It was Tawni's favorite website: _The Samantha Jones Page_. According to Tawni, it was _the_ best site on the web, for tips on_ hair care_. Sonny had visited it a few times on her insistence. Admittedly, it _was_ a good one, but its primary target was teenage _girls_. She knew that Chad's feminine streak showed whenever his hair was concerned, but she didn't know that he was _so_ intent on having good hair that he didn't mind going on such girlish websites. People were _so_ right about calling him a 'pretty boy'. And it looked like Chad took Samantha's advice seriously because he didn't leave the site for over half-an-hour. Then he went to his fansite and began viewing the comments. Sometimes a smug smile would appear on his face; sometimes he would pop his collar. Sonny rolled her eyes at these typically Chad reactions. Perhaps his fans had gushed about how great he was, and maybe he had gotten a few advanced birthday wishes as well.

Sonny's legs were beginning to ache and tiredness was taking over her body. She wished Chad would do something entertaining to keep her from boredom and tiredness.

As though he could read her mind, he turned off the computer walked to his mirror. He combed his hair, winked at his reflection and flashed a dazzling smile at it. Sonny rolled her eyes. Honestly, he was a little _too_ narcissistic.

She was beginning to wish that he would go to sleep instead of adoring himself so that she could relax her position.

Then,

"Hey Chad", he said in a high pitched voiced, still standing in front of the mirror.

Sonny stared at him, shaken out of her sleepiness. Was he trying to imitate somebody?

"Hey Sonny" he said in his normal voice.

Sonny's eyes went wide. He was mimicking _her_?

"Chad, you look _so_ handsome tonight", he said in what Sonny supposed was a feminine and dreamy voice. She crinkled her nose, silently mouthing, "Ew"

"Yes Sonny, I know. I _am_ the Tween Weekly's Most Handsome Actor award's winner for three years in a row after all", he continued cockily, in his normal voice.

"Chad, you are also the _greatest actor of our generation_", he said, now in a high pitch. He was doing a bad job of imitating Sonny. Then he followed it by a gesture that she supposed was supposed to be hair twirling and a shy smile.

She was livid. She _never _behaved like that.

"Fine"

"_Fine_"

"Good"

"_Good_"

"So we're good?"

"Oh we're _not_ good", interjected Sonny, before he could continue his tirade. She stepped out of her hiding place. She just couldn't contain herself any longer. Chad turned to see her, looking unfazed by her sudden appearance. So apparently he _had_ known about her presence for sometime now.

"Well, good evening Sonny", he said smiling.

"Idiot", she said and sat herself on his bed, giving her legs the much required rest.

"So Sonny, how long have you been here?", he asked, sitting down next to her.

"How long have you _known_ I was here?"

"Spotted you in the mirror. It wasn't _so_ hard. Your head was peeking out from behind the cutout"

That would explain why he had suddenly felt the urge to imitate her. She had been getting a little worried that he had actually gone mad.

"Yeah, I was feeling very tired to pay close attention to how well I was hidden"

"Okay then, lie down for sometime if you want. We'll talk about why you're here later"

He got up and pulled his chair near the bed. He sat on it, leaving the bed for Sonny to lie on. His gesture took her by pleasant surprise. She was dating him for almost a year now and she still wasn't used to the bouts of affection he showed every now and then.

Sonny didn't say it aloud, but Chad had exceeded all her expectations in the relationship. He respected her boundaries, did sweet things like this for her unexpectedly. They still had their banters but they were getting along better than ever. And she wasn't planning on letting him go.

She closed her eyes and her body relaxed. She fell asleep to the delightful smell of Chad's cologne.

**11:41 PM**

"Sonny…Sonny"

Sonny stirred and opened her eyes slightly. Her nose vaguely registered Chad's cologne. She smiled reflexively. Good thing to wake up to. Wait! Did she just catch a waft of _Chad's_ cologne? She shook her head, trying to clear her senses. Then the awareness of where she was came flooding back to her. She turned to the woman who had been trying to wake her up in hushed whispers.

"Mrs. Cooper?", Sonny whispered, not wanting to wake up Chad, who had fallen asleep on his chair.

"Yes, Sonny. I thought you wanted to celebrate Chad's birthday at 12?"

"Yes, I do. What's the time now?"

"11:45 dear"

"Oh crap! Thanks for waking me up, Mrs. Cooper. I'll go get everything ready. My bag's in the kitchen, isn't it?"

"I think so. You want me to help you, Sonny?"

"No, I think I can manage. You can go back to sleep, Mrs. Cooper"

"Okay then, goodnight"

"Night"

Sonny went to the kitchen to fetch her bag. She took out the cake and placed the candles in an arrangement that spelled 'CHAD'. Satisfied with the work, she slung her now considerably lighter bag over one shoulder and lifted the cake with her other hand and went to Chad's room.

Light snores were issuing from him.

She placed the cake on a table and looked at the time. It was 11:55. The timing was perfect! She lit all the candles. She decided to leave the tube lights off. Her heart began beating a little faster.

She put in a CD in the music player and pressed the PLAY button.

"Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you…"

Chad stirred. Sonny smiled.

She began singing along with the CD.

Chad rubbed his eyes.

"Sonny?", he asked sleepily. She took the cake and bent in front of him, gesturing him to blow the candles.

"Happy Birthday, Chad!", she said softly.

He looked at her with an awestruck expression on his face. Sonny had never seen a more beautiful sight. His eyes seemed to _glow_ in the candles' light. She would have kissed him then and there had she not been holding a cake with so many candles alight.

"Chad, blow out the candles", she said, shaking him out of his stupor.

He took in a deep breath and exhaled sharply, extinguishing most of the candles. He blew again and they were engulfed by darkness. Sonny turned on the tube light and turned off the music. Now Chad was properly awake.

"Wow Sunshine"

Sonny's heart skipped a beat upon hearing the nickname. Chad rarely used it. But when he did, it was enough to make her weak in the knees.

She handed him a beribboned knife and he cut the cake. He fed a slice to her and she fed him a slice.

After they were done with the cake, Sonny placed it on the side table.

"You honestly didn't see this coming, Chad? I thought I'd given my plans away when I made my presence known earlier in the evening"

"No, Sonny. I thought you were going to prank me or something"

"Seriously?", she asked him, laughing.

"Wouldn't put it past a Random. And moreover, nobody's celebrated my birthday so …_personally._ So it _was_ unexpected"

Sonny understood what Chad was talking about. All of his birthday parties were scheduled, highly publicized events with a lot of celebrities in attendance, most of them barely his acquaintances. They were more about image-upholding than about hearty celebration of the day.

"Thanks Sonny. You don't know how much this means to me", he said, taking her hand and stroking it. Sonny smiled at him warmly and put her head on his shoulder.

"Liked the cake, Chad?", she asked.

"Yeah, it tasted good"

"I made it"

Chad began laughing.

"Good joke, Sonny"

He stopped laughing when he realized that Sonny had removed her head from his shoulder and was frowning at him.

"You weren't joking?", he asked warily.

She shook her head.

"Oops, I'm sorry"

"That was your birthday gift, you idiot"

"What? You give me a _cake_ as a birthday gift?"

"Not that it's a bad one", he added hastily, seeing the look upon Sonny's face "but since I am _the_ Chad Dylan Cooper, I deserve something more too, don't you think?"

Sonny pulled out a package from her bag.

"Since you are _begging_ me for another gift, here you go"

Chad took it from her eagerly and unwrapped it.

"Really, Sonny, _really_? A signed picture of yourself?"

Sonny laughed and replied, "Yes, Chad, _really_. And it isn't just _any _signed picture. See how it is signed"

"To my biggest fan, Happy Birthday", he read.

He looked at her with narrowed eyes.

"My own words, Sunshine?", he asked sarcastically.

"_Come on _Chad. It's a lot of fun"

When he continued staring at her incredulously, she sighed.

"Alright. Here's your actual and final birthday present"

She gave him another package. He unwrapped it and stared at it. It was a painting **(A/N: It's much more romantic than a photograph:)** which depicted the two of them with their arms around one another. Hearts adorned the frame and Sonny had written 'I love you' across the picture boldly.

"You didn't like it, did you?", Sonny asked tentatively.

Chad looked up to see her face.

"Sonny. It's just…_wonderful_"

She looked at him disbelievingly.

He put an arm around her and pulled her to him.

"Seriously Sonny, it's beautiful. This is the best present I've ever received"

"Really Chad?"

"Yes, Sonny. _Really_"

Saying so, he gently caressed her face and pulled her into a kiss.

After they broke apart, Chad said, "That was the best birthday _ever_ Sonny. I'm not going to forget it any time soon. And for the record, I love you too"

Sonny smiled. _She_ wasn't going to forget it very soon either.

**A/N: Wow, that was one **_**long**_** story. I should've probably made it a two-shot, but I wanted to get it out before the weekend.**

**Did it bore you? Hope not. Hope you found it entertaining.**

**Review, okay? 'Cause reviews make me happy.**


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